SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Liverpool's visit of fierce rivals Manchester United takes centre stage as the FA Cup resumes with a jam-packed weekend of fixtures.
The glamour tie of the fourth round will take place on Saturday lunchtime with Anfield as the stage, with the Reds having already booked one Wembley visit after advancing to the Carling Cup final with a win over Manchester City in midweek.
The clubs have joined forces in calling for both sets of fans to act responsibly, with the clash marking the first time the teams have met since Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches for racially abusing Patrice Evra in October, but tensions are expected to run high in a fiercely-contested affair. Two Friday games are scheduled, one of which will see Tottenham make the short trip to Championship opponents Watford, with Harry Redknapp set to return to the dugout. In Friday's other encounter, two top-flight opponents go head-to-head when Everton host Fulham at Goodison Park, with in-form Cottagers striker Clint Dempsey seeking his third hat-trick this month.

South Korea finished fourth at the 2002 World Cup as a nation turned red with excitement, yet just five months earlier, the team managed the same position at the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup while the country turned pink with embarrassment. In June, the Taeguk Warriors defeated Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain on their way to the semi-final; in January, they lost to the United States, Costa Rica and Canada while drawing with Cuba and Mexico. In June, Guus Hiddink was a hero; but in January, he almost lost his job.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

If you had invited predictions a year ago about football's most combustible issue, it is unlikely that racism, the focus of sustained and successful efforts to kick it out, would have come anywhere near top of the list. Yet as Liverpool prepare to face Manchester United in the FA Cup for a match in danger of being more poisonous than for a long time, football's long, progressive battle against racism is suddenly spotlit again.

There have been crimes committed against the fraternity of full-backs in recent weeks. Arsenal's spate of injuries has obliged Arsène Wenger to send out four centre-backs whose relative uniformity of size when strung in a defensive line has left them looking at times like table footballers – with the proviso that they lack the positional discipline compelled upon them by having a pole running through their ribs to link them together.
Tony Pulis, who seems to have an aversion to orthodox full-backs, sent out Stoke City for their FA Cup third-round victory over Gillingham with the former England centre-halves Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson at right- and left-back respectively. Indeed he has persevered with Woodgate in the old No2 role despite evidence that suggests the defender is wholly unsuited to the task.

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations is well underway after three days of competitive matches that have done little to betray the tournament's reputation of being one of the most exciting and unpredictable events in world football.
The tournament kicked-off in Bata, a port-city on the Atlantic coast of Equatorial Guinea, with an opening ceremony full of glitz and glamour that provided a stunning backdrop to the competition on Saturday evening.
The ceremony was truly a spectacle to behold, but thankfully so far the tournament itself has provided entertainment to match.

Sir Alex Ferguson has written to all Manchester United fans travelling to Anfield for Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie against Liverpool.
The United boss has asked for the fans to behave and for "positive, witty and loud" support.
The letter made no mention of the recent racism row, instead urging fans to help protect future allocations.

Tunisia capitalised on a wasteful Moroccan performance to beat their North African rivals 2-1 in Group C.
Khaled Korbi opened the scoring for the Carthage Eagles, floating a free-kick straight into the Moroccan goal.
Substitute Youssef Msakni doubled Tunisia's lead with a wonderful solo effort, before Moroccan skipper Houcine Kharjah pulled one back.
Morocco squandered several chances to score but Tunisia deserved their opening win, after a gutsy performance.

Zak Whitbread, D, Norwich City - Started, played 90 minutes in Norwich City's 0-0 draw with Chelsea on Saturday. Whitbread had perhaps his best game of the season, clamping down on Fernando Torres and doing his part to keep Chelsea's high-potential attack off the scoreboard. SEASON: 12 games, 12 starts

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was accused in court Tuesday of concealing a "secret'' offshore bank account from British tax authorities that was used for six years to stash $295,000 of transfer bonuses.
Redknapp, considered a favorite to become England manager after this year's European Championship, is standing trial with his former chairman at Portsmouth on tax evasion charges during their time working together at the south coast club.
"I don't fiddle anybody. I pay my tax,'' Redknapp said in a police interview read to the court.

Fox is understandably proud of their experiment this morning to show English Premier League soccer live on U.S. broadcast TV for the first time. Yet it seems Fox affiliates aren't so excited, as 23 of Fox's 185 stations decided to air something else. Here's the list of cities where you can't see Arsenal take on Manchester United, and what they're showing instead.

It's week 19, and time for the half-term report. The players quake in their sponsored boots, as the verdict is delivered on their collective performances so far. Will it result in being grounded, a temporary loss of pocket-money, or a shiny new bicycle?
As ever, the teams will appear from the top in order of the 'unexpectedness' of their league position, their general performances, or a mixture of both. So the first side to appear will have surprised us quite a lot (negatively or positively), and at the bottom of the league will be the team that has behaved exactly as everyone predicted.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Ricardo Clark had barely played in the last six months. His last appearance for his German second-division team came in July, and this was his first game for the U.S. national squad since August.
Finally given a chance, he provided the goal that had eluded his team all night.
Clark headed Jermaine Jones' corner kick into the net in the 7th minute of stoppage time and the United States beat Venezuela 1-0 in a friendly on Saturday night.

Real Madrid and Barcelona won again in Spain while Bayern Munich's defeat allowed the chasing pack to move level on points at the top in Germany.
Juventus continue to lead the way in Italy, although AC Milan and Udinese maintained the pressure with wins of their own.
Marseille and Lyon were given tough times by lower league opposition in the Coupe de France while holders Lille survived a scare.
In Holland, AZ Alkmaar and Ajax finished all-square in the battle of the top two while Celtic have extended their lead on Rangers in Scotland.

Manchester rivals City and United kept things tight at the top of the table after overcoming North London opposition in a dramatic weekend of Premier League action.
The city rivals defeated Tottenham and Arsenal respectively to cement their dominance in the top two spots, while Chelsea were another capital side to suffer a setback in a goalless draw at Norwich.
Robbie Keane starred against former club Wolves as Aston Villa enjoyed a derby win, while Fulham pulled off a stunning comeback to thrash Newcastle and Mark Hughes enjoyed his first league win as QPR boss over Wigan.

Few of us like a Monday morning, but The Fifth Official does, for it brings with it a chance for him to point the finger and laugh. Here he pulls out the pretty, the puzzling and the downright pig-ugly from a week brimming with potential victims.